introduction
i have a marginal interest in collecting old gaming tech in the hopes that i can have access to old games after they are inevitably pulled from whatever services their licenseholders have them on, so naturally that's led me to the question of "emulate or get the hardware", which I imagine multiple people have also ran up to.
so in general I try and emulate whenever I can (frankly, because it's much more convenient to play a game on new hardware if it can) but I do like old hardware either when it's more convenient or when it's novel -- which means the "eras" of gaming that are truly desireable on hardware is kind of strangely limited.
most gaming consoles prior to about 2003 are easily emulatable on new hardware with zero or near-zero noticeable play differences. most game consoles from 1972 through about 2000 are, imo, better to play emulated due to the ease of emulating them, coupled with god-knows-how-many tweaks you can apply for desired playstyle.
So all that in mind, these are the consoles (& handhelds) that i think are actually worthwhile to pick up in 2023:
Nintendo DSi
two screens means that emulation will likely always be clunky, if not unplayable. Better to pick it up and just play on hardware if you really want to play the original TWEWY or whatever, that's what I did.
The DSi is, in my opinion, the best rev of the DS and also not particularly hard to pick up these days. I really love the pixel density on the screen (something you don't get if playing DS games on a 3DS), and it's just a neat device to hold. Games can be played through original carts, via an R4 pirate cart (cheap as hell honestly), or (if you really want to) installed onto an internal microsd.
Nintendo >new!< 3DS
the dumbest console name in Nintendo's long history of stupid fucking names. however, the device itself is still great, and there is no way anyone is going to emulate that 3D effect anytime soon. it's worth picking up, and relatively easy to crack as long as you have a spare microSD lying around.
Sony Playstation Vita
While you can get pretty much a 1:1 experience when emulating the PSP, the Vita's gimmick touch controls are impossible to emulate exactly. Not a super-expensive device at the moment, and it pulls double duty by also playing any PSP game (if you crack it). worth the pickup imo.
Nintendo WiiU
The Gamecube & Wii have almost identical system specs but -- and this is important -- the Wii has such a specific gimmick that it's a pain in the ass to emulate (not impossible! just a pain in the ass). If you want to play Wii games, I'm not sure there's an easier solution then just getting a Wii... or a WiiU, which also gets you the entire library of the WiiU's weird gameset.
The Wii is definitely easier to get ahold of, but the WiiU is entirely back-compatible with the Wii (thus allowing you to play all those Wii games). If you have the option, the WiiU is the better pick. Cracking a WiiU is relatively simple, and games can be loaded via USB or SD card, same as the Wii.
Sony Playstation 2 (maybe)
the thing about PS2s is that there are still a billion of them floating around, you don't need them to have a working disc laser in order to run games (if you crack them), and there are still a couple games that don't emulate well (Shadow of the Colossus).
The pressure-sensitive face buttons also have never been reused by any other hardware manufacturer, too, so some games just... don't really work on emulators (e.g. racing games that used the pressure-sensitive buttons, or (famously) MGS3). all of that means that i do think it's worthwhile to pick up a PS2 if you want that 100% Accurate Playstyle vibe. HOWEVER: if you do not care about this shit you can still emulate about 80% of the catalog no problems.
I got one in white because I loved that colorway. They're also incredibly easy to crack and run games from an HDD.
Microsoft Xbox (maybe)
these are a little more annoying to find, and famously Large. the reason they're on this list at all is that the emulation support for Xbox is... just ok. And to paraphrase a friend who has recently gotten into collecting games from this era, if a game came out on PS2 and Xbox, it is nearly certain the Xbox version will be cheaper. so if hardware collecting is your thing, the xbox is kind of neat to have!
personally, it's probably not going to be part of my collection because I don't care too much about the exclusives, and the emulation support is getting better every year.
more thoughts if you care:
Get an original Wii if you want to be super retro and play games on a CRT. It's the last console to output 240p so any classic games you emulate will look right on it. Both the Wii and a CRT TV are pretty darn cheap.
